New Lakota Dictionary-Online (NLD-O) users have long anticipated the addition of audio files to the digital archive.  Thanks to the work of seven fluent speakers and volunteer linguistic staff last summer, Stage 1 of the
project was completed as the speakers recorded 22,000 words in both male and female voices.  In Stage 2, the Consortium’s code developers are dedicated to editing the sound files and coding to match each individual sound file to the text associated with the word in the NLD-O – so that the audio file comes up when a user keys in a Lakota word.  (Stage 2 still needs funding, in case you know any millionaires.)

Stage 3 will see the NLD-O’s new Audio-enhanced version re-launched in a new web environment, Owoksapee.org – a word meaning “learning place.” The free online forum for the NLD-O will continue as it is.